Absolute shambles of a company. Firstly took holding deposit by cash on 18th September (requested by them)… then denied having cash (receipt below). Then accept a deposit and offer from us, however continue viewings with other applicants. Expect paperwork returned within 1 hour otherwise threat the landlord will not proceed despite people being at work. They lie and do not get back to you let alone answer a simple query. We called on Friday morning explaining if the property isn’t Let Agreed and the landlord hasn’t made a decision then we want the deposit back. Both Kiera and Katie do not know legalities or the rental process when asked. Any question we have asked, they could not answer. Katie hung up on me after lying that the landlord has the deposit now and saying she needs to speak to them to see if we get it back as she doesn’t have a clue. Then wonders why people are frustrated when they are illegally retaining money. Both members of staff and Kings are going to be reported to THE PROPERTY OMBUDSMAN, and I advise all the other people who have negative dealings with the company to do the same. I’m not sure how people like this are allowed to be responsible with important assets and homes of clients. Please save yourself the stress and go with a trusted agent instead of wasting your time and money with this cowboy company. **response to Kings Estates reply after 4 months** Firstly several times we filled in the referencing forms with him and secondly, legally you cannot retain a holding deposit unless the following: - deciding not to rent the property - give wrong or misleading information - cannot pass a right to rent immigration check. (Response forwarded to Trading Standards)

Edit: I find it strange that countless reviews claim that Kings Estates have taken as much of their deposit as they can but they “don’t appreciate such damaging accusations”. Surely if it was nothing to do with them, people wouldn’t be leaving such reviews. Also, we don’t appreciate your agents letting themselves into our home because they think a read receipt is an invitation into our home. A quick google search reveals: “It is a common assumption of landlords and their agents that, as the tenancy agreement provides access upon what is usually 24 hours' notice, they have the right to access the property after the said notice. However, landlords must request access whenever they wish to enter the property.” We did not grant access. When I explained this in my last email it was ignored. ——- As others have mentioned, their agents act illegally and let themselves into your home without permission. They are excessively frequent with bookings, treating the place you live in more like a showhouse than a home. I wrote an email to complain about the essential break-in and threatened legal action. I was essentially told "we can do what we want if we give 24 hours notice" which is UNTRUE. They had the cheek to then say that if we DIDN'T want them to enter our home, we had to provide a reason! I am currently looking into installing a chainlock because these estate agents of darkness might be stood outside my bathroom when I get out of the shower. Or maybe they'll wish me good morning at the foot of my bed when I wake up like the seven dwarves So if this happens to any of you, go to citizens advice and take them down to china town. They conduct this type of behaviour because they rely on students not taking action - it seems like not enough of us are. It's a hassle, but these guys are not only deposit thieves, they think your home is their right - so they can make more money! Absoloutely disgraceful and it's a wonder that they're still operating. Kings estates more like cringe estates

A truly disgusting company, as you can see by the reviews, these are not to be trusted and the deposit situation went on for 4 months over summer as they try to blame you for stuff that isnt your fault, their workers are a disgrace when house viewing, the house stunk, mould everywhere PLEASE AVOID!!

This company is absolutely disgusting. We rented for a year and when we entered the property it was a state and stank, hadn't been cleaned and was quite honestly, barely liveable. Towards the end of our tenancy, we asked an agent in person to file a complaint about something, they did not and used it against us when it came to giving our deposit back. When it came to giving the deposit back it took us 5 months to get it back and the emails we sent them of proof we hadnt done what they said were ignored and we were sent the same incoherent, basic response each time. DO NOT RENT/BUY FROM THIS COMPANY!!!!!!!!!!

Students avoid like the plague.. be prepared to fight for your deposit. Take pictures of everything in the rental property, Kings are horrifically pedantic and will try to squeeze you for as much of your deposit. Kings did not follow their own contract with regard to deductions and took far too long to respond to any emails. We requested maintenance on the property within a couple of months of moving in, which was ignored repeatedly. For example, we asked for the extractor fan in the bathroom to be fixed, but it was never fixed. Then Kings blamed us for the damp/mould in the bathroom at the end of our tenancy. Honestly, a joke of a company

Students say goodbye to your deposit In the three years that we have lived out of student accommodation, Kings Estate Agents are by far the worst company we have ever decided to rent with. They are unprofessional and un responsive, taking weeks at a time to respond to the simplest email, further more when we called to enquire about issues with the property we essentially got told not my monkey not my zoo. We requested maintenance on the property on several occasions which was never fixed and when the contract ended we were blamed for the issues wrong with the property, even Stevie Wonder could see there were issues with the property prior to moving in. STUDENTS! Take photos of everything and we mean literally everything, they will pick up on a tiny spec of dust and dictate you must pay for a full end of tenancy deep clean out of your deposit After 3 months of fighting King's through the deposit protection scheme, we eventually won the majority Kings estate agents do not follow contractual obligations and acted illegally on several occasions, e.g. letting them selves into our home without 24hrs notice, they then begin to be petty and requested viewings 1 minute before the 24 hour mark. Kings estate agents rely on the fact students are broke and would need a full deposit to pay for future deposits and rental payments, by any means do not cave to their deductions... you will win

Avoid this agent and especially Rachel as i can remember. Really rude and asking for many information which themselves don't know. To rent a simple house for a couple it's not enough to have a full time job with a good salary but to also have a homeowner guarantor!!!! Again to rent a 1bed house for a couple. Extremely rude and with an attitude in her voice. AVOID

House was disgusting when we moved in, grease stains, pubes in and over furniture. Basics like lightbulbs and the extractor fan were broken. Black mould in the bathrooms and all up the back of the house. Joint butts in the hallways when we moved in and house stunk of cannabis. Honestly shocking level of incompetence from a professional company, would expect better quality from my 3 year old niece with a toy phone and plastic screwdriver.

We personally have not had a great experience. Staff seem to not really be sure about a lot going on, including past emails, laws, when things are happening etc. They are super friendly and lovely, just this company seems to need more training or more staff. There's long waits for replying on emails, when I phone I'm being told to wait for replies so they have a paper trail, the replies don't actually answer the emails and are filled with errors

Please avoid this estate agents. An Extremely negative experience throughout our tenancy. A lack of replies to emails, extremely long waiting times for any response for any concern. They broke the tenancy agreement on their end, taking far too long to inform us of deductions from our deposit, which did not seem to be justified and seemed extremely unfair. The property was extremely dirty when we moved in, with various bags of rubbish left from the previous tenants. One of these consisted of an old dirty toilet seat left on the dining table. At the end of tenancy we left the property extremely clean, especially compared to when we moved in. After moving out we had to chase our deposit up. This was an extremely stressful experience, which ended with them taking deductions that do not appear to be justified. This company is greedy and will keep as much of your deposit as they can get away with. Please take your own inventory photos before moving into your property and at the end of tenancy or just avoid this company all together!!